It may be hard for some people to imagine, but before their beloved pet cats and dogs were domestic creatures, there weren’t any name-engraved rhinestone-encrusted bowls teeming with kibble waiting for Fluffy’s every hunger whim.  In fact, cooked grain, which is the main ingredient in many large commercial pet foods, was never even sought out by these once wild animals.  Really, animals didn’t even cook their own food.  With this in mind (and the many recent pet food recalls), many people are thinking evolutionary when it comes to Fluffy‘s dinner. And by evolutionary, they mean raw.

The dog, by nature an omnivorous hunter and scavenger like its wild relative the wolf, is quite capable of eating a wide range of whole raw meats and vegetables.  Additionally, the anatomy of the domestic dog is nearly the same as a wolf’s, according to Dr. Ray Coppinger, a biology professor at Hampshire University who has studied dogs and wolves for 40 years.  The only difference is that wolves have bigger brains so they need more calories.

For cats, meat-eating hunters, the biologically appropriate diet is the nutrition they obtain from a whole raw carcass.  “The mouse model is considered the ideal diet for a cat,” says Dr. Kristine Young, veterinarian and owner of Hope Veterinary Clinic in Brooklyn, N.Y.  “A whole mouse would contain almost all protein, some bones, and whatever grains it had in its stomach--not much.”  Young also cautions that large-scale commercial cat foods are as far from the mouse model as possible.  A healthier animal is the payoff for feeding pets their evolutionary diets, according to Young, whose seven cats and dog eat raw meals.  “The results have been amazing,” she says. “Their coats are amazing - soft with no dandruff, sparkly eyes, they’ve all lost weight and gained muscle, their poop is excellent-firm and not stinky.”

“Dogs and cats diagnosed with ‘unsolvable’ problems (arthritis, diabetes, a wide range of gastrointestinal problems, allergies) often recover completely when eating a properly prepared fresh food diet,” says Steve Brown, co-author of See Spot Live Longer, a book about canine health.  Although, he does caution that certain animals with health problems should be under the supervision of a vet with raw food experience.

Terri Lewis, owner of www.BARFdirect.com (a web site selling pre-made raw pet foods), has also witnessed incredible results from raw diets.  Lewis had a customer with a one-year-old Boxer named Henry who was suffering from gastrointestinal problems.  “Henry continually threw up bile and had some loose stools and had trouble keeping weight on,” Lewis says.  After being switched to a raw diet Henry is now thriving.   

Raw bones and living enzymes are the secret to these health improvements.  Raw bones are soft and easy to digest, unlike cooked bones, which can splinter and puncture the intestines.  They are “nature’s storehouse” for essential vitamins and minerals, according to BARF World (Biologically Appropriate Raw Foods), a pre-made raw diet company created by Australian veterinary surgeon Ian Billinghurst.

The other super foods included in raw diets are meat, offal (hearts, livers, kidneys, and tripe), whole eggs, and whole fruits and vegetables.  Pet owners who prepare raw meals themselves should be aware of certain foods that are toxic to pets.  A list of these foods can be found on the Humane Society of the United States’ web site at www.hsus.org.  

Grain, the main ingredient in most major commercial pet foods, is an item rarely found in raw diet recipes.  This is because many animals, especially dogs, are allergic to grains, according to Young.  “A highly processed, grain-based diet fed to an animal designed to thrive on a meat-based, fresh food diet is very likely to produce symptoms of ill health over time,” Brown says. 

“Commercial diets, especially ones based on dry foods, are virtually all starch and do not contain enough digestible protein to provide proper nutrition,” Young says.  According to Young, “The major published advocates of raw food say that pets are getting fat because they’re eating more and more to try and get the nutrients they need, and [are] becoming not only obese, but developing other diseases such as diabetes.” 

Giving grain-based food to your pet will likely result in dry itchy skin, a dull coat, a greater likelihood of degenerative disease, a lowered immune system, increased stool frequency and odor, and dental problems.  Nevertheless, grain usage and preparation method aren’t the only differences between raw and cooked pet foods.  In raw diets the ingredients are all human-grade and organic, because wild animals don‘t eat food that has been pumped full of hormones and various chemicals.            

The same quality isn’t found in many commercial pet foods.  Young says that the same companies who make pet foods with animal byproducts (unusable parts of the animal like beaks, feet, and feathers) also use cheap grain like corn and wheat.  “Much of this is a byproduct of human manufacturing,” Young explains.  “It is no coincidence that the major pet food manufacturers are primarily human food manufacturers like Nestle and Mars. They are using the food for animals that they cannot use to make food for humans, like stale or moldy grains and animal byproducts.” 

Brown says that “a meat-based diet is not what you find in a bag of dry food, no matter what the label says.”  “The manufacturer can choose the order of ingredients,” he says.  “If you see three grain sources after the meat, that food is mostly grain, and the manufacturer is playing the meat-first game.” 

Despite excessive evidence illustrating how grain-based foods deteriorate the health of these cherished companions, many veterinarians still promote large commercial pet foods while condemning raw food.  Young claims this is because vets receive little nutritional training in school and are left to seek out their own knowledge.  “Like human medical doctors, vets get all of about four hours of nutritional education in four years of school,” Young says.  “Some of it’s even elective.”   Instead, veterinarians are taught that bacteria-ridden raw foods will make animals sick. 

While many raw food advocates recognize the concern many people have about the presence of bacteria, they point out that animals have been eating feces and gut contents for years.  Brown explains that cats and dogs live in a bacterial world and consumption of bacteria is natural.  “Your dog goes out for a short walk in the garden,” he says.  “She absorbs just a few grams of soil, and then comes in and licks her pads.  In those two grams of soil there were probably billions of bacteria [from] hundreds of different species, some friendly and some not.”   

“Cats and dogs appear to be able to carry salmonella in their intestines,” Young says, “but the theory is that their intestines are so short, relative to humans, that they can pass it without being affected.”  She believes it’s no riskier than preparing fried chicken for Sunday supper, and has yet to see a case with health problems caused by raw foods.  Nonetheless, all raw food supporters advocate safe handling when working with raw food.  Always clean all surfaces including your pets’ bowls with hot soapy water.       

Another worry is how to make the switch to a raw diet.  Even though your pet is meant to eat raw food, concerns may arise about how it will affect a pet that has been eating cooked food for years.  Young believes a slow approach is best.  “If it’s not [slow], their sensitive digestive systems can become upset, leading to diarrhea and sometimes vomiting,” she says.   

It is doubtful that feeding Fluffy her evolutionary diet will cause her to come home with freshly killed chickens or rotten vegetables she dug out of a dumpster.  Feeding pets their evolutionary diet isn’t about returning them back to nature, but it does bring nature back to pets. 

by Nikki Walters

Nikki is a freelance journalist in the Atlanta area.